A new Madison, Wis., public charter school set to operate in a former church has drawn the attention of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. FFRF is a national state/church watchdog with more than 1,350 Wisconsin members, including several hundred in the Madison Metropolitan School District. In a Nov. 23 letter to Superintendent Daniel Nerad, FFRF noted that the district has signed a letter of intent with Mount Olive Lutheran Church to operate Madison Preparatory Academy at 4018 Mineral Point Road. The property has been for sale since 2009. The church has moved to Whitney Way. “Representatives for the school have said that the plans include spending more than $1 million dollars on improvements to the church property in addition to monthly rent,” said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The school has not offered any details publicly on how the $1 million would be spent. The school’s financial plans state that rent would be $12,600 per month for the first year and nearly $24,000 per month for the second and third years. The charter school lease would be for three years, and thereafter the school ‘intends to move one or both of its schools into one or more permanent facilities that can appropriately handle the school’s growth to 820 students.’ ” Gaylor called that “a windfall” for the church. “Public funding would be used to finance permanent improvements to the church. Simply put, public funds should not be used to renovate churches. The property is listed for sale for $1.45 million. By the end of three years, the church would receive upwards of $725,000 in rent in addition to the benefit of $1 million in improvements, no strings attached, with no further use or benefit to the taxpayers.” When the agreement ends, Madison Prep will be homeless, and Mount Olive will have been enriched by $1.75 million in taxpayer funds, noted Gaylor, calling it an unlawful public subsidy of a ministry and a place of worship. The Wisconsin Constitution (Article I, Section 18) states, “[N]or shall any money be drawn from the treasury for the benefit of religious societies, or religious or theological seminaries.” FFRF is hearing from many members who oppose merging public education with religious institutions with school vouchers and charter school church locations. “Supporters of these changes say they are justified as they offer cost savings,” Gaylor said. “The principle of keeping public education public is far more important than short-term cost savings, but in this case, the MMSD proposal would waste, not save, public funds. It is fiscal folly and unacceptable.”

]]>test@ffrf.org (USERID43)NewsMon, 13 Feb 2012 13:47:44 -0600Away with the manger, in with the solstice!https://ffrf.org/publications/freethought-today/item/13911-away-with-the-manger-in-with-the-solstice
https://ffrf.org/publications/freethought-today/item/13911-away-with-the-manger-in-with-the-solstice

FFRF protested a devotional nativity on display in the Wisconsin State Capitol for the first time by seeking a permit to place its own “anti-creche.” Pictured: FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor.

“Question with boldness even the existence of a god,” says Thomas Jefferson. “IT’S A GIRL!” Venus proclaims. Below, an astronaut plays the part of an angel.

Statement by the Freedom From Religion Foundation on placement of its Winter Solstice nativity at the Wisconsin Capitol:

For a fact, the Christians stole Christmas. We don’t mind sharing the season with them, but we don’t like their pretense that it is the birthday of Jesus. It is the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun — Dies Natalis Invicti Solis.
Christmas is a relic of Sun worship.
For all of our major festivals, there were corresponding pagan festivals tied to natural events. We’ve been celebrating the Winter Solstice, this natural holiday, long before Christians crashed the party. For millennia, our ancestors in the Northern Hemisphere have greeted this seasonal event with festivals of light, gift exchanges and seasonal gatherings.
The Winter Solstice is the reason for the season. The Winter Solstice, on Dec. 22 this year, heralds the symbolic rebirth of the Sun, the lengthening of days and the natural New Year.
We nonbelievers are quite willing to celebrate the fun parts of anybody’s holidays. We just want to be spared the schmaltz, the superstition, and the state/church entanglements.
The customs of this time of year endure because they are pleasant customs. It’s fun to hear from distant family and friends, to gather, to feast, to sing. Gifts, as freethinker Robert Ingersoll once remarked, are evidences of friendship, of remembrance, of love.
The evergreens displayed now as in centuries past flourish when all else seems dead, and are symbols, as is the returning Sun, of enduring life.
In celebrating the Winter Solstice, we celebrate reality.
We are unveiling a tableau that celebrates the human family, reason and the Winter Solstice.
• Our wisepeople depict the atheists and scientific giants, Darwin and Einstein, who have enlarged human understanding of the natural world far more than the bible or any “holy books.” They were both nonbelievers as was progressive reformer Emma Goldman, representing wise women everywhere. The irreverent literary genius Mark Twain is added for good measure.
• Although Venus, like Mary, was a mythical fertility figure, this image, after which a planet was named, represents our solar system.
• Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, was a passionate advocate of separation of religion and government and would have disavowed Christian devotional scenes on state property.
• Our “angels” are also natural. The Statue of Liberty symbolizes freedom, and the astronaut represents the human achievements of science unfettered by religious dogma.
• Our baby was chosen partly for simple egalitarianism, and partly because it’s high time we adore female children as much as male children, and to acknowledge that humankind was birthed in Africa.
FFRF would vastly prefer that government buildings and seats of government be free from religion, and irreligion. It is divisive. The rotunda is getting very cluttered. But if a devotional nativity display is allowed, then there must be “room at the inn” for all points of view, including irreverency and freethought.
FFRF gratefully acknowledges the exceptional carpentry work and enthusiasm of Andrew Seidel. Thanks also to Katie Daniel, Melanie Knier and Scott Carney for their invaluable help in creating the natural nativity on very short notice. Part of this statement was adapted from a 1985 Winter Solstice speech by Anne Nicol Gaylor, FFRF president emerita.

Bullying law drops religious exemption

State Senate Republicans abandoned an anti-bullying bill dismissed as a “license to bully” by Democrats, and on Nov. 29 instead adopted a version approved by the state House, the Grand Rapids Press reported.

The measure, which requires all school districts to have anti-bullying policies, was signed into law Dec. 6 by Gov. Rick Snyder. The bill was named “Matt’s Safe School Law” for Matt Epling, a teen who killed himself in 2002 after years of bullying.

The Senate’s first version had a provision that exempted from the law “a statement of a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction of a school employee, school volunteer, pupil, or a pupil’s parent or guardian.”

Democrats said that language “gutted” the bill and wouldn’t have protected gay students. Schools must institute a bullying policy within six months. Parents of all parties involved in an incident must be notified.

UK Girlguides could be God-free

The London Telegraph reported Nov. 20 that the Guide Association, aka Girlguiding UK, is considering dropping the phrase “to love my God” from its pledge for members. The pledge is is optional, but girls who don’t take it are barred from receiving some badges.

Several families objected to the current wording. Caroline Mason told the Association, “As a family, I am bringing up my children with strong morals, but no religious belief. This is our choice as parents, and I do not understand why my daughter should be excluded from something because of it.”

A spokesman said the Scout Association for boys doesn’t plan to review its pledge to do “duty to God and to the Queen.”

Man says refusing ‘666’ got him fired

Billy Hyatt alleges in a lawsuit that he was fired from a plastic plant near Dalton, Ga., because he wouldn’t wear a “666” sticker.

The Associated Press reported Nov. 18 that the sticker said the plant had been accident-free for 666 days, a number some Christians call “the mark of the beast,” meaning Satan.

Hyatt alleged he got more and more nervous as the number of accident-free days neared 666, fearing he would “be condemned to hell” if he wore it. He was suspended for three days for refusing to wear it and fired several days later, the suit claims.

He filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which granted him the right to sue in August.

Full court to hear graduation case

The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit on Nov. 17 vacated a three-judge panel’s 2-1 ruling in September in favor of the Elmbrook [Wis.] School District and agreed to review the question of whether the district can hold graduation in a church.

The district has held graduation for years at Elmbrook Church, a nondenominational Christian church in the town of Brookfield, the Brookfield Patch reported.

Superintendent Matt Gibson had asked the church to cover a large cross above the graduation stage, but the church refused. Other religious symbols were present, and families sat in pews.

Elmbrook moved its graduation ceremonies back to the high school in 2010 after building a new fieldhouse. But the plaintiffs want to ensure ceremonies don’t return to the church in the future. The issue of holding public school graduations in religious settings had never been heard before at the federal appellate level.

High court rejects Bronx Faith appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected on Dec. 7 the evangelical Bronx Household of Faith’s appeal to overturn New York City’s ban on after-hours religious services at public schools. The justices left in place a federal appeals court ruling that upheld the city’s policy.

According to the city, about 60 congregations used public schools for religious services in 2009.

German court nixes Muslim prayer room

Germany’s top administrative court has ruled that students don’t have the right to pray while in school if a religious conflict is created.

The court on Nov. 30 upheld a decision by a lower court which had denied that right to a Muslim student who had demanded a private prayer room at his Berlin high school. The court also said creating a separate prayer room taxed the space capacity of the school.

Mojave double cross doesn’t fool rangers

Federal rangers on Nov. 15 removed a cross Nov. 15 on Sunrise Rock in the Mojave Desert east of Baker, Calif., the same spot where another cross was taken down in a legal battle over whether a religious symbol should be allowed on public land, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported.

To comply with a court order to remove Mojave Cross, placed on the rock in 1934 (and which proponents attempted to rebrand as a war memorial), the surreptiously placed new cross had to go, said Linda Slater of the National Park Service. “You can’t go putting things up in national parks,” she said.

Utah state troopers try to skirt ruling

The Utah Highway Patrol logo was removed from the 12-foot-high crosses that bear the names of troopers who died on duty, UHP Association attorney Frank Mylar said.

“We’re hoping we can keep the memorials as much intact as possible but change them so that it complies with the [court],” Mylar said. “They really feel strongly that that without the cross, there’s no memorial.”

A three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ordered the crosses removed last year. The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the case.

Lawsuit: Principal proselytized staff

A Clay County [Fla.] School District principal used her work email to proselytize and espouse her political views, including sending emails that called President Barack Obama a “jackass” and joked he had cousins in the Taliban, according to a lawsuit, the Florida Times-Union reported Nov. 29.

Patrick Capriola, an assistant principal at Bannerman Learning Center, claims in a federal lawsuit filed Nov. 18 that Bannerman Principal Linda Turner and the district violated the Constitution and his right to “be free of state-sponsored religion.”

Capriola alleges that at least 16 times, Turner emailed faculty asking them to pray and have faith in God and alerting them to religious petitions.

Members of the new chapter, FFRF Valley of the Sun, and other FFRF members, gathered for a photo by one of the Phoenix “Out of the Closet” billboards in early December. Special thanks go to Anne Mardick, chapter director. The freethinkers then enjoyed a group brunch. Billboard benefactor Stephen Uhl (center in white jacket and beard) and his wife, Diane, drove from Tucson to be part of the event.

Nine myth-dispelling billboards featuring Phoenix-area nonbelievers and families, plus two billboards in Tucson, went up for a month in November as part of FFRF’s personalized “Out of the Closet” project.

Phoenix and Tulsa are the fifth and sixth cities in the “friendly neighborhood nontheist” PR campaign.

The colorful billboards, organized with the local chapter, FFRF Valley of the Sun, and its director Anne Mardick, feature the friendly faces of atheists, agnostics and freethinkers along with their personal freethought “testimonials.” Members in Tucson, Tempe, Phoenix, Chandler, Scottsdale, Avondale and Sun City composed their own thoughts. They are identified by name, profession and location so they are truly “out of the closet.”

“Atheists work to make this life heavenly,” says Dr. Stephen Uhl, of Tucson, a FFRF Lifetime Member, former Catholic priest and author of Out of God’s Closet. His wife, Diane Uhl, a retired teacher, Lifetime Member and member of FreeThought Arizona, proclaimed on hers, “I respect people for their deeds not their creeds.”

FFRF is indebted to Dr. Uhl for a $25,000 contribution to the national campaign, which not only paid for the Arizona campaign but helped FFRF with its “Out of the Closet” campaigns in Raleigh, N.C. (with its Triangle Free-thought Society chapter), and in Columbus, Ohio, earlier in the year. Steve and Diane were interviewed by two TV stations in Tucson with very positive coverage.

The Arizona Republic put the campaign on its front page Dec. 10, focusing on the Schineller Family of Tempe. Holly, a stay-at-home mother, and Freddie, a math professor, are pictured with their four smiling children, Tanner, 12, Hunter, 10, Skylar, 9, and Jasper, 8. They chose a slogan about their family values: “Love + critical thinking = open minds.” They identify as “Freethinkers.”

Noted Holly, “We lead by example with love and exploration, and believe love and critical thinking create open-minded children.”

“I don’t necessarily want to change minds. I just want to dispel some of the myths,” Holly told the Arizona Republic.

Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president, told the Republic she hopes the campaign will bring nontheism into the mainstream and help people understand that atheists are regular people. “We’re saying, ‘This is your friendly neighborhood atheist.’ It’s harder for people to be hateful when they know you. Would you be hateful to the Schineller family, to their lovely children?”

This is the first time FFRF has placed a billboard in Spanish. “Creo en la razon, no en la religion” (“I believe in reason, not religion”), is the statement of Lifetime Member Zenadio Quintana of Phoenix.

“Faith without reason is true blindness,” is the slogan of James Wood, a blind student from Chandler.

Ronald Weinert, identified as an “Airline and USAF pilot” and atheist, notes: “Airplanes fly without faith and so do I.”

A green billboard features the smiling face of Joe Hernandez of Phoenix, who says: “Good for goodness sake — no gods required.” Joe is identified as “Vegan, Microbiologist . . . Atheist.”

Kyle and Amy Ruby of Tempe, a young married couple, quip: “We’re too old for imaginary friends!”

Physician and Lifetime Member David Reichert, 69, wears a trademark cowboy hat and notes: “I’m a childhood Christian indocrination survivor and atheism convert.”

FFRF, a state/church watchdog based in Madison, Wis., is the nation’s largest association of atheists and agnostics with more than 17,000 members, including more than 400 in Arizona. “The nonreligious are 17% of the Arizona adult population, yet there are many Arizonans who have never knowingly met an atheist or unbeliever, much less someone who is proud to advertise their nonbelief,” said Dan Barker, FFRF co-president. Barker, author of Godless, is a former evangelical minister who “just lost faith in faith.”

“We are your neighbor, your classmate, your colleague, the person who opens the door for you at the grocery store, the parent you meet at the playground,” he said.

“This was a complicated project, and it was made possible thanks to all of these generous people,” Gaylor added.

Because FFRF can’t put all of its members on a billboard, it offers an interactive web application as part of its campaign. Any nonbeliever may coin a phrase, upload their photo, choose an “Out of the Closet” appellation and post a billboard look-alike at FFRF’s website.

U.S. District Court Judge Michael Urbanski granted the plaintiffs’ motion to proceed using pseudonyms and a protective order in FFRF’s and the ACLU of Virginia’s lawsuit against the Giles County School Board for unconstitutionally displaying the Ten Commandments at Narrows High School.

The plaintiffs, a student and parent on whose behalf the suit was filed in September, will continue to be known as Doe 1 and Doe 2, Urbanski ruled Dec. 12. Earlier, Urbanski had refused to dismiss the case.

“The Court further instructs that no harassment, threats, intimidation or interference with the Plaintiffs will be tolerated and violators will be subject to contempt proceedings,” the order said.

Mathew Staver of the Christian-based Liberty Counsel, representing the school district, wanted the names made public: “You can’t shadow box when you don’t know who’s punching.”

“Don’t you think [anonymity] might be appropriate when you have the chairman of the Board of Supervisors calling these people anonymous cowards?” Urbanski asked Staver during oral arguments, the Roanoke Times reported. “That didn’t just come from a man on the street, that came from a public official.”

ACLU lawyer Rebecca Glenberg cited other comments made at public meetings or in emails to FFRF and ACLU. “Keep up the good work, you’ll have a special place in Hell,” one person wrote. Another said, “Sure sounds like non-Christians ought to move out of Giles County before things get ugly over there.”

FFRF is warning the Board of Education in Kiel, Wis., to reject a proposal to teach creationism in public schools.

A concerned parent notified FFRF that the board intends to take up the issue at its meeting Feb. 1, 2012. Last September, the board discussed “alternate theories on the origin of man/life, namely providing a balanced view of the subject.” The discussion of “alternative theories include[d] creationism.”

In a Dec. 8 letter to the board, FFRF Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott wrote that teaching “creationism, intelligent design, or any of their creatively named offspring in public school” is unconstitutional. “Time and again, courts exposed these proaposals as an attempt to foist religious beliefs onto vulnerable schoolchildren, often after a costly legal battle.”

After citing numerous court cases “consistently reject[ing] the promotion of creationism and its ilk in the public schools,” Elliott wrote: “Every attempt to smuggle religion into science classrooms by means of ‘alternative theories’ has failed.”

Elliott also clarified the difference between a “theory” in the layperson’s sense of the word” and a “scientific theory” by quoting the American Association for the Advancement of Science: “A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment. . . . The theory of biological evolution is more than ‘just a theory.’ ”

The “misunderstanding of these terms often leads to a misunderstanding of evolution, the vast weight of evidence supporting evolution, and of its overwhelming acceptance in the scientific community,” noted Elliott.

FFRF asked the board to “reject any irresponsible proposal to inject religious dogma into the science curriculum.”

Explicit political endorsements on his church’s website by a California pastor drew the attention of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which in late November requested an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service. Churches are barred from endorsing candidates as a condition of their tax-exempt status.

A concerned citizen alerted FFRF to a video by Rev. Perless Daniels Jefferson Jr., senior pastor at Rehoboth World Outreach Center, Church of God in Christ, in Vallejo, titled: “My Endorsement of Vallejo City Candidates for Nov. 8, 2011.”

“In the video, Pastor Jefferson exhorts his listeners to vote, something we applaud, but he goes too far,” noted FFRF Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott in a complaint letter to the IRS. “In all, Pastor Jefferson endorsed one candidate for mayor and three for the Vallejo City Council.”

Elliott further noted that Jefferson allegedly urged congregants to bring their absentee ballots to him so he could help them fill out the ballots.

IRS regulations prohibit 501(c)(3) organizations, including churches, from “[participating in or intervening in] . . . any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.”

While leaders of churches or religious organizations may express their opinions on political matters as individuals, they are precluded from making “partisan comments in official organization publications or at official functions of the organization.”

Jefferson was speaking as an official of the church and introduced himself as “pastor,” using an official church website to endorse candidates.

“The IRS should take appropriate action to remedy any violations of 501(c)(3) regulations,” Elliott said.

FFRF stops school assembly prayer

Zachary Community School District in Louisiana promised to refrain from prayer at district events after receiving a letter of complaint from FFRF.

On Oct. 17, Zachary High School held a district-wide assembly to celebrate its recent ranking in the state’s accountability plan. Before the start of the assembly, parents and students were asked to bow their heads in prayer as an invocation was given over the PA system.

Patrick Elliott, FFRF staff attorney, sent a letter to Superintendent Warren Drake on behalf of a concerned parent. Elliott requested that Drake commence an immediate investigation into the illegal prayer. Elliott pointed out that prayer at a school-sponsored event violated the district’s own policy, which states that “no student attending the school shall be required to participate in any religious activity at school.”

In a Dec. 2 response, Drake said he apologized “if anyone was offended, as this was not our intent and [we] will refrain from saying a prayer at any such event in the future.”

Texas school drops addiction to Jesus

The North Lamar Independent School District in Paris, Texas, promised to end school-sponsored religious messages at school assemblies after receiving a letter of objection from FFRF.

At an assembly in October, North Lamar High School Principal Paul Allen discussed drug abuse by high school students. Allen recited passages and teachings from the bible, telling students that “Christ died for the just and the unjust.” Allen also implied that “people that don’t have God in their life, and people that don’t believe in something more” are manufacturing or selling addictive substances.

On Nov. 16, FFRF Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott wrote a letter to Superintendent James Dawson, informing him that, “It is coercive and inappropriate for a school official at a school function to promote religion to a captive group of impressionable students in attendance.”

In his Nov. 21 response, Dawson said, “Since the assembly, I have had discussions with administrative staff on the topic and offer assurance that there will be no more school-sponsored religious messages at assemblies in the North Lamar Independent School District.”

FFRF advocates for nonreligious seniors

The Senior Center at Euless Family Life Center in Texas no longer hosts a religious display, thanks to FFRF.

The religious display included a Latin cross with patriotic symbols and a U.S. flag under a sign that read, “When you can’t see God’s hand, trust his heart.”

The Family Life Center is a public facility. On behalf of several local complainants, FFRF Staff Attorney Stephanie Schmitt wrote a Nov. 22 letter to Recreation Center Supervisor Heidi Taylor. In her letter, Schmitt noted the religious display, “is particularly offensive to veterans and other seniors who do not believe in the Christian god.”

Seven days later, Recreation Superintendent Mike Davenport confirmed that the display has been removed.

Gideons shown door after FFRF letter

On Nov. 4, members of Gideons International were allowed to enter Liberty-Eylau Middle School in Texarkana, Texas, to distribute bibles to fifth graders at lunch.

After being contacted by a concerned parent, FFRF Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott wrote a Nov. 11 letter to Superintendent Nick Blain, informing him of the constitutional violation.

In a Nov. 22 response, a school attorney told FFRF that the district had already stopped distribution of “unauthorized materials on its school campuses. . . . If you receive information that there have been some unauthorized distribution of bibles at any of the Liberty-Eylau school campuses, please contact me immediately.